FiveThirtyEight’s top politics stories this week

A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Popular In Politics] Thursday, July 6, 2023 [1. Introducing Our Brand-New Polling Averages]( [538_Main_PollAverage_v02_agArtboard-USE]( As you may have heard, there have been some changes at FiveThirtyEight recently. While it will be strange around here without our founder Nate Silver, his models and his oddly strong opinions about states, there are also some things that aren’t going away: namely, our commitment to rigorous data journalism and our mountains of polling data and trackers. [Read more]( [2. Most Americans Wanted The Supreme Court To End Affirmative Action — Kind Of]( [The US Supreme Court building]( In a ruling on two related cases on Thursday written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court just ended affirmative action in higher education as we know it. [Read more]( [3. Who’s A Serious Candidate For The Republican Nomination, And Who’s Just Dreaming?]( [MajorRepublicanCandidates_4x3_v01_ag]( Pop quiz: How many Republicans are running for president? According to NPR, it’s 11. According to The New York Times, it’s 12. According to Politico, it’s 14. [Read more]( [4. The Supreme Court Killed Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan. What Does That Mean For 2024?]( [Biggest Cases Loom As Supreme Court Hits Homestretch]( On Friday, the last day of this year’s term, the Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. The court concluded in a 6-to-3 ruling that the president overstepped his executive authority by making such a large-scale change to the program via a waiver, as laid out in a 2003 law. Chief Justice John Roberts was joined by the five other Republican appointees to the court. “The [2003 law] provides no authorization for the Secretary’s plan even when examined using the ordinary tools of statutory interpretation — let alone ‘clear congressional authorization’ for such a program,” Roberts wrote. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [Politics Podcast: How The Supreme Court Will Shape The 2024 Election]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ABC News]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 47 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023.